by

Our Daily Thread 10-11-14

Good Morning!

Welcome to the weekend!!!

On this day in 1811 the Juliana, the first steam-powered ferryboat, was put into operation by the inventor John Stevens. The ferry went between New York City, NY, and Hoboken, NJ. 

In 1869 Thomas Edison filed for a patent on his first invention. The electric machine was used for counting votes for the U.S. Congress, however the Congress did not buy it. 

In 1932 the first telecast of a political campaign was aired in New York. 

And in 1939 U.S. President Roosevelt was presented with a letter from Albert Einstein that urged him to develop the U.S. atomic program rapidly. 

______________________________________________

Quote of the Day

“It is better to light a candle than curse the darkness.”

Eleanor Roosevelt

______________________________________________

 Today is Darryl Hall’s birthday.

And some guitar for no apparent reason. From Opry

______________________________________________

Anyone have a QoD?

60 thoughts on “Our Daily Thread 10-11-14”

  3. I am at the office with my husband at least for the start of this day. We did not have much time at home last night before returning here. My husband is not feeling very well right now. The stress causes all sorts of little ailments. I try to think of things to make life a bit more comfortable during the stressful times.

    Liked by 5 people

    Reply

  4. Stress can wreak havoc with us, Janice. 😦

    I’m up super early for a Saturday, the dogs had to go out earlier than usual and now Tess is acting strangely, just very clingy. I never saw the cat this morning, but I’m assuming she popped out of the doggie door after Cowboy … Still, I usually am aware of her presence.

    Shouldn’t have stayed up so late watching the apes taking over civilization … Unsettling movie.

    Like

    Reply

  5. Good evening, Jo. Good morning, Chas and Janice.

    I don’t have much to say this morning…

    I’m taking L. to visit three possible new barns for riding lessons. Hoping we find one that’s a good fit. Becca has a friend coming over at nine. I’m quite find of this friend; her mom is the hostess of the Mom’s Prayer group I belong to and a really wonderful woman. She is from Columbia and isn’t like most of the tennis-playing, Gucci bag carrying, celebrity-magazine-reading, women in my neighborhood. She has depth, as do the other fifteen women in the prayer group.

    Like

    Reply

  7. The book I am reading now for review is The Significant Life by George M. Weaver. His first wife died relatively young from cancer. They had no children. She was afraid of being forgotten. I am still in the first section, “The Apparent Insignificance of the Individual Person.” The second section is titled, “The True Significance of the Individual Person.” The third section deepens his discussion with, “The Consequences of the Significance of the Individual Person.” The first section contains a lot of information about eponyms, or putting a name on something to remember a person, such as buildings, businesses, inventions, or in the case of the less affluent, wearing a logo associated with a star (described as “the poor man’s eponymy.”)

    When the Olympics came to Atlanta I did invest in a brick with our family’s name on it to help the fundraising for building venues, etc. I have also bought a brick at another location with the name of a missionary on it to help in another fundraising effort. Do you or any of your folks have buildings, streets, or bricks named in their honor? How do you feel about such things?

    Like

    Reply

  8. I had an opportunity to buy a brick (or several) for the Horseshoe at Carolina. I passed it up. People have been walking over me long enough. This would be forever. (or decades at least.)

    Like

    Reply

  9. I have contributed to such memorials, although, I have never had a particular name put on one. It is a good way to raise funds. I do have several relatives whose names are on military memorials.

    The town we are most involved in also has several murals. They raise the funds by doing likenesses of people and also selling space for names. The military one has actual likenesses, for instance, and stars with names. The cost is according to the level of the exposure. I enjoy these memorials and have taken grandchildren to show them the history they depict.

    Like

    Reply

  10. I have seen a county memorial to veterans which has a coworker’s husband and BIL and FIL on three different areas of a walkway. I enjoyed seeing that.

    I also remember receiving my first name plate for my desk as an accountant. It was referred to as my nomenclature by my boss. A fancy word gimmick to raise the status of a government worker who was suppose to be a servant of the people of the state. So my name has appeared on a desk in a government building. I guess that makes me really special, right? 😉

    Like

    Reply

  13. Well, Chas, I know you are glad that someone else isn’t doing work under your name. I took my nameplate with me, too. I feel sure the desk mourned its loss in being associated with me.

    Like

    Reply

  17. Praying Janice.

    They’ve used the memorial brick idea out here for buying things like park benches.

    Our city government is kind of broke these days and can’t afford a lot of those niceties — including street & sidewalk repairs.

    The other solution is adding an extra tax which is always talked about of course. That’s always the default solution.

    Like

    Reply

  19. My alma mater did the brick fundraising for a new building. I don’t think it was as successful as they hoped. If I recall correctly, they ended up having a half-price sale on bricks.

    Like

    Reply

  20. I’m at the emergency room. Brother had insulin reaction. He is better now. He usually gets very sick with throwing up when this happens so he is reluctant to eat the food and drink the juice which he needs to offset the insulin he already took that is long acting. The nurse just asked if I was his wife and said I need to force feed him.

    Just a little more stress for a Morton salt day (girl needs big umbrella for when it rains it pours).

    Like

    Reply

  22. Glad he’ll be OK Janice — My former dog was diagnosed with diabetes & during the time when they were still trying to determine how much insulin he’d need, they overestimated and I gave him a dose that drove his blood sugar really low (except I didn’t know what was happening to him). I panicked when he started shaking and wobbling. Scary.

    (Finally got him squared away on the correct dose eventually, but the vet told me if it happened again to feed him quickly and it should level out — I think they recommended also keeping corn syrup on hand for a quick jolt.)

    Anyway, I digress. Praying your brother bounces back quickly today. Bodies are strange and unpredictable things sometimes.

    Like

    Reply

  24. Good to hear, Janice.

    Well, since Halloween is approaching, here’s a real-life horror story for you:

    WELDON SPRING, Mo. – A family was driven from their suburban St. Louis home by thousands of venomous spiders that fell from the ceiling and oozed from the walls.

    Brian and Susan Trost bought the $450,000 home overlooking two golf holes at Whitmoor Country Club in Weldon Spring in October 2007 and soon afterward started seeing brown recluse spiders everywhere, The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported . Once when showering, Susan Trost dodged a spider as it fell from the ceiling and washed down the drain.

    She told St. Louis television station KMOV-TV in 2012 the spiders “started bleeding out of the walls,” and at least two pest control companies were unable to eradicate the infestation.

    http://www.foxnews.com/us/2014/10/10/thousands-venomous-spiders-force-family-to-abandon-their-450k-suburban-st-louis/?intcmp=latestnews

    Like

    Reply

  26. Sorry to hear about your brother’s seizure, Janice, but glad things are under control now. Prayers also for your husband, and for you, too, during this stressful season.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  27. Donna, I had ants, cockroaches, gheckos and mice in my first house in Africa, but I didn’t move out until the baby black mambas showed up. Which would make a good QoD: Which would you prefer: A) a house full of brown recluse spiders or B) a backyard with a nest of black mamba hatchlings? 😛

    Like

    Reply

  29. Cheryl, the story you linked does not surprise me. My mother sometimes recounts the night of before my grandmother died in the hospital. It was determined that she was dying, and she had been moved out of the double room she had been sharing with another elderly woman. Now, this other woman liked to watch the worst television shows at high volume (thankfully, my grandmother had only been hospitalized a couple of days). My grandmother was put in a private room, next to the one she had been in and another elderly woman was placed with her former roommate. Late that night, my mother heard yelling and swearing coming from the room – it seems that both women liked to watch the worst television shows at high volume, just not the same show.

    Having worked in a nursing home for the elderly, I don’t believe the stereotype of the sweet elderly woman. There were some really nasty characters that we had to take care of. One resident, a woman, was a bully and a terror, not only to us staff (I privately labeled her ‘the dragon’ as you could hear her huffing down the hallway when she was coming to complain about something) but also to the other residents. She deliberately rammed into people who got in her way, knocking more than one frail person over. It was hard to not to get upset. Still, sometimes, it could be quite amusing to watch the patients’ disagreements. Here is one which I wrote down soon after I saw it:
    <blockquote)Scene: Two elderly people – the first: six foot tall, two hundred pound weight, walker-wielding, intimidating figure – the second: frail, wheelchair-bound, little old person. Near collision occurs going around a corner, scaring both… The conversation follows:

    Little old person (snappish): “Oh! Get along with you. You’re always in the way.”

    Intimidating figure (dry): “Oh, really?! I think you’re the one in the way.”

    Lit. old per. (defensive): “No I’m not!”

    Int. fig. (flatly threatening): “Would you like me to push your face in?”

    Lit. old per. (spunky): “I’ll push your face in!!”

    Int. fig. (mocking): “You couldn’t reach it!”

    Lit. old per. (indignant): “I could reach it with my foot!!!”

    Needless, to say I would have intervened had the argument become physical, but they both went their separate ways, leaving me shaking with silent laughter behind the nurse’s desk. to make any noise to show I was there would have brought the I.F.’s indignation down upon me, finishing off with her favorite sarcastic phrase, “You call this a nursing home!”

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  31. We publish a crime roundup from police reports collected from our various cities every few weeks. Assaults with canes aren’t unheard of (although the best one was the guy who hit another guy with a frozen fish he’d just bought at the market).

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  32. Some elderly can get agitated very easily, for just about any reason. My husband and I went to visit my grandmother in the nursing home many years ago. We were there on a weekend day, and as soon as we walked into the commons area, or whatever you call it, one elderly woman shouted at my husband, “Get a job!” 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  35. Roscuro, I was present for the birth of one of my nephews, and they had chosen to induce, so a nurse was with us all day. So, what did she do but spend the day telling stories? Mostly she told us how wonderful it was to help a married couple who wanted this baby. She told story after story of things she had seen, including a young child (10-12, I don’t remember exactly) who was giving birth, and they were pretty sure the girl’s father was the baby’s father, and they would have brought charges if that was the case but the girl who wouldn’t say who had fathered her child. Then there was the angry woman with AIDS who was giving birth and who was making sure to get her blood all over the room. And the person in the newspaper, arrested for drug possession, whose face looked familiar to the hospital staff . . . and then they remembered he was the father from yesterday’s birth who was so rude to everyone. And the man who was found in bed with his girlfriend, two hours after she had had a baby, trying to have sex with her.

    When my mom was in the hospital after heart surgery, she wasn’t fully out from under the results of anesthesia but she had been moved to a semi-private room. The woman in the other bed had her TV up loud, and a person on the show was saying something like, “Doctor, doctor, don’t let her die! She’s gonna die!” I was quite nervous that Mom might hear it and think it was her family or friends talking about her. I understand why some patients want TV, but really they ought to have to wear headphones.

    Phos, in my experience old people are either the sweetest people or the nastiest, not much in between. I’ve heard it said that you lose inhibitions, and if you have a nasty heart you get to where you don’t care if other people see it. But yes, I have seen some nasty elderly people.

    Like

    Reply

  37. Thanks everyone for your concern. We are at his home now and he is asleep. He had to go water his chickens right after we arrived. He did throw up at the hospital, but only once. They put him on anti-nausea medication and we picked some up from Walgreens for at home. We need to go get his car later. Once he was in his car at a country store which sells feed for animals when he had a reaction. Somehow his car got involved with and stopped by the big weighing scales for the feed. One wheel was up in the air spinning and a customer was able to get into the car enough to turn the ignition off. We have been fortunate considering. He has been diabetic since age two. Thanks again for the prayer support. I really feel it made a difference.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  39. Baby girl H got a Christmas nightie at the Shrimp Featival today. She will be born in November so it is the little sac with the folds of fabric over her hands and the elastic at the bottom. It has a little pappy holder that says “my first Christmas “. Grandpa doesn’t mind how much I spend on babies. 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  40. Roscuro – I knew an elderly woman in her 90s who was sweet, & had a humorous twinkle in her blue Irish eyes. 🙂 Then again, she wasn’t in a nursing home. Maybe life in a nursing home brings out the worst in people?

    Like

    Reply

  41. Karen, I’ve known a number of truly sweet elderly ladies, both my grandmothers among that number. However, it is the stereotype that I disbelieve. I would agree with Cheryl that the character you had in younger years becomes sharply accentuated in those last years. And yes, nursing homes seem to breed corruption. What I witnessed and endured was not nice (I don’t want to say too much; but I learned to avoid grasping hands and ignore leering looks and inappropriate remarks). I have a decided aversion to having anyone I care about ending up in such a place and was considerably upset when my grandmother (the one who is still living) moved into a retirement home, even though it was her decision. Thankfully she is in a better run one, with the dementia patients separated from the others – that is a large factor in the lowered morale in many homes, having mentally alert seniors having to witness the painful decay of those with dementia. Still, even then, I think those with dementia would be much better off being cared for as individuals, rather than being penned up together, each one worsened by the others’ confusion. I once described, to my mother, the nursing home as being like the description in Dante’s hell, with each of the doomed being condemned to carry out the sins they had committed in previous life, over and over again.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  43. Roscuro: I agree with your evaluation of nursing homes. I did a short stint as a nursing home social worker during my internship with the VA. There were many people in less-than-ideal circumstances. However, I am glad they exist as sometimes it becomes too difficult to care for a relative at home. Thankfully, my eldest brother has offered for both of my parents to live with him, should their health deteriorate. If my father (age 81) goes first, my mom will need looking after. And, unfortunately, she cannot live in my home, my sister now lives in Africa, and she doesn’t get along at all with my two other brothers. So, I’m very grateful to my brother. We can and will help financially, but I couldn’t have her under my roof. I could, however, live with my dad, but he is in perfect health and doing great. His dad died at 92 (after being a binge-drinker for 65+ years…) and his mom was 95 when she passed from complications from Alzheimer’s. Luckily, he has no symptoms of that dreaded disease. He takes care of everything for my mom, so we all hope he does not go first. They married when she was just 19 and he was 22–so it’s all she’s ever known. He handles all the finances, the majority of the grocery shopping and other errands (my mom’s balance is problematic–she has been told by her doctors that she should be using a walker, but refuses–so, anything that requires much walking is difficult for her), and also watches out for her in myriad ways (making sure the stove is turned off, doors are locked, etc., as she’s too inebriated by 7:00 pm to remember to do such mundane things…). According to my brother (an anaesthesiologist) and my BIL (a general surgeon), she’s exhibiting symptoms of the initial stages of wet brain, so we may be in for an ugly ride. So, while nursing homes might not be the best place to spend ones final years, they can be a blessing to the family.

    Like

    Reply

  44. Kim: I love those blanket nighties for infants! They look so cute in them. November will be here before you know it–I’m so happy for you! Hope you’ll post pictures!

    Like

    Reply

  45. Ann, I understand that there are times when the family cannot take care of their elderly. However, nursing homes should be the exception, rather than the rule, as care for the elderly and there are a few ways that they must be improved for the health and safety of those in them:

    – Private rooms for every resident, unless it is a married couple. This is their primary residence, and they have a right to privacy. I have seen residents in tears from ill treatment by an unpleasant roommate.
    – The mentally alert should be separated from the mentally debilitated, unless they are married and the healthy spouse wishes to stay with the debilitated spouse.
    – Developmentally delayed, quadriplegic, or mentally ill younger adults should never be placed in a nursing home. They are young and have the interests of the young. If their families cannot care for them, an alternative should be found. The ones I encountered were bored and their problems worsened by contact with the other residents.
    – A resident who is violent and combative must be isolated from everyone else and have a staff member assigned just to them. I’ve seen injuries caused by such residents, and heard of deaths due to them.
    – More staff and less medication – as a student, I had to research every medication the residents were on, and most of them might as well have not taken any medication, as the side effects from each cancelled the benefit of the others. Some were on over thirty medications. Conversely, I usually gave medications out to over thirty residents – by the time I got through the supper medications, it would almost be time for the bedtime doses. It left precious little time for other care [nurses are not responsible for personal care – that is done by PSWs (similar to a Nurse’s Aid)] like dressing wounds or assessing health conditions.

    Homecare is actually a cheaper alternative (since many seniors in the U.S. are probably on Medicaid) – I also trained in homecare and I met seniors with far more debilitating problems (dialysis, Parkinson’s, stroke, etc.) than those in the nursing homes, who were well cared for and much happier. Some of the most sick actually lived on their own, not even burdening their families.

    Like

    Reply

  47. I saw a good illustration in the sermon this morning.
    Dr. Cutchins was preaching “What Matters Most” from Romans 12:1-2. He was illustrating the Spiritual renewal required to please God. (v.2)

    I had never even thought to wonder what makes popcorn pop. But in illustrating the part about Spiritual renewal, he illustrated it by popcorn. It was projected on the screen.

    Seems the hard, useless corn kernel has a bit of moisture inside it. When the kernel is heated, the moisture expands and creates something entirely different from what it was before. Something useful, whereas the kernels that had no moisture are left at the bottom of the bag and discarded with the other trash.

    I thought that was interesting.

    Like

    Reply

  48. That’s a sad headline for families who were going to have a fun evening shooting zombies. I wonder if some wondered if it was part of the ‘experience’. 😦

    Like

    Reply

  49. From what I read in the paper, it was an eighteen year old guy dressed as a zombie (however they are dressed) for a fair in which children are supposed to shoot with paintballs. He was running and tripped and fell under the bus. The rear wheels ran over him and killed him instantly.
    I don’t understand much of that, nor all the zombie part. But that’s what happened to him.

    Like

    Reply

  50. Hi all. Enjoying the grandchildren. Newborn is very popular among all of us.

    Donna- I hope my daughter doesn’t ever see that story about brown recluse spiders so close to us. She is fearful of any spider.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  51. Roscuro – I agree with much of what you’ve written about nursing homes. (I’ve always thought it sad that married couples are kept in separate rooms.) Unfortunately, most of those changes would cause nursing homes to be much more expensive than they already are.

    My dad declined rapidly at the end of his battle with cancer, so he went right from home to a hospital before dying. My SIL & I took care of my mom in her own home while she was dying of cancer, with help from visiting hospice nurses, & were able to let her die in her home. (She died in the living room. Kind of ironic, huh?)

    But my MIL was a different story. We took care of her in our home for over four years before reluctantly realizing it was time for her to go into a nursing home. She had Alzheimer’s, which magnified her already very-critical personality, & her pride in being (or thinking she was) independent, which caused her to reject help from others. It was getting dangerous, because she would jerk away from me when I tried to help steady her (her walking had become very unstable), or other times when I had to help her with various things that she really did need help with.

    Trying to get her to eat & drink was an almost impossible task. Despite my frequent encouragements & reminders to drink, she eventually became very dehydrated. It was our mutual doctor who told us that we had done all we could do.

    To be honest, I said we “reluctantly” realized she needed to go into a nursing home, but we were also relieved. Lee (an only child) & I were the only ones available to take care of her, & it had taken quite a toll on me. It is very tough to take care of someone who rejects your help, refuses to cooperate, & thinks you’re her enemy.

    Like

    Reply

  52. Our sermon was from Rom. 8:33-39 (third week on this particular passage), “More Than Conquerors.”

    The message began addressing Christians who go through faith crises periods, seasons either of calamity or brought on gradually by a neglect of the things of God.

    One believer came to our pastor wondering about Prov. 24.16 (For a righteous man may fall seven times and rise again, but the wicked shall fall by calamity) and whether he was one of the righteous.

    Not a bad question to ask, but our pastor reminded him that he was the sinner and Jesus is his Savior. “This is the fundamental nature of our relationship with God. And there is only one reason the righteous man will continue to rise. It’s found in Luke 22:31, 32.”

    And this quote from Calvin:

    “We will never have confidence in Him unless we become distrustful of ourselves, we will never lift up our hearts enough to Him unless they be previously cast down in us; we will never have consolation enough in Him unless we have already experienced desolation in ourselves.”

    There was a lot more. It was one of those sermons that made me mutter a “wow” before saying Amen at the end.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  53. The reason I didn’t mention my FIL in my comment above is because he died when Lee was 18. I never met him, but Lee says he would have loved me, & we would have gotten along well.

    So, R is not taking F overnight after all. Hoping the little guy stays asleep when his mommy leaves for work at 6a.m.

    Like

    Reply

  58. I didn’t realize earlier that 57 was within my grasp, and now I see that one who did not enter the poll claims she should have won. try next time, Cheryl.

    Like

    Reply

Leave a reply to Jo Cancel reply